Rodrigo Santoro is about to share the screen opposite Will Smith…

The 37-year-old Brazilian actor, who will next appear as Xerxes in 300: Rise of an Empire, will star opposite Will Smith in Focus.

The Warner Bros. heist movie, which is being directed by Glenn Ficarra and John Requa, follows a con man (Smith) who becomes romantically involved with a novice, being played by Margot Robbie. He’s then thrown off his game when the former flame shows up just as he’s staging an elaborate con in Buenos Aires.

Santoro will play the magnetic and powerful owner of an international auto racing team who is vying for Robbie’s affections. He also hires Smith to gain a competitive edge for his racing team.

The picture will begin shooting in October in New Orleans and Buenos Aires.

Santoro just wrapped the Western Jane Got a Gun with Natalie Portman and is currently in Brazil starring in Carlos Saldanha’s segment of Rio I Love You.  He’s also lending his voice for Saldanha’s animated film Rio 2, which opens May 14, 2014.

He was last seen in the indie feature Heleno, a black-and-white Portuguese-language film Santoro starred in and produced based on the life of one of Brazil’s greatest soccer players, Heleno de Freitas.

Warner Bros. is set to release Rise of an Empire, in which  reprises his role of the mad Persian monarch Xerxes, on March 7, 2014.